TAKING A DIFFERENT ROUTE

Results similar to recent years, but these Aztecs find new ways to win

Most teams don’t dare switch the 1-4 ball screen, where a beefy power forward sets a screen on a jitterbug point guard. The Aztecs can and regularly do, especially with 6-foot-8 Winston Shepard at the point and 6-7 JJ O’Brien playing the 4.

“You have a confidence that these are our staples,” coach Steve Fisher said. “You have to say, ‘This is what we do best.’ It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, where we’re playing, altitude, no altitude, full gym, no gym, we’re going to be good at this. We’ve talked about that. We’ve got to be rock solid with our defense, and we have been.”

Block party

The Aztecs blocked 79 shots last season. Total. In 34 games. That’s 2.3 per game. Twenty-nine Div. I players averaged more by themselves.

This team is already up to 71 blocks in 14 games, an average of 5.1. That’s ahead of the 2010-11 team, which shattered the school record with 170 blocks (4.6 per game).

Freshman forward Skylar Spencer, who has that rare combination of length and timing, has 20 blocks despite playing just 14.4 minutes s gsmr. But Jamaal Franklin has 14, and 6-3 Chase Tapley has 12. Six players already have five or more.

Blocked shots knock over several dominoes. They allow you to extend your defense on the perimeter. They start the fast break, leading to easy baskets at the other end. And they intimidate. Players hesitate, or change shots, or quicken them, or simply stop taking them.

Managing minutes

Fisher admits it: He has always been a proponent of the eight-man rotation.

But he has forced himself to play at least nine this season, and now 10 that sophomore transfer James Johnson is eligible. So far, so good. The real benefits, though, might not come for another month or two.

Only one player, Franklin at 31.2, is averaging 30 or more minutes. Last season, four did.

“We have 9 or 10 guys who can come in and do well,” said point guard Xavier Thames, who is playing nearly five minutes less per game this season (33.8 to 28.9). “This is much different than last year, when we had six, seven guys playing most of the minutes. I think we’re all fresh. Last year at this time, a lot of guys were still sore.”

Bench depth is a huge asset in the Mountain West, where SDSU will play five games at lung-scorching altitude and where tired legs translate to losses late in the season.

“A couple minutes can be significant,” Fisher said. “So that’s helpful, when we’re able to give them that extra minute or two of rest, without a doubt.”